Leavy reveals brawls on training ground in Beirne’s Leinster days
IRELAND Grand Slam winner Dan Leavy has opened up on the ‘training-ground brawls’ he and Scarlets lock Tadhg Beirne had with Leinster’s star-studded squad when trying to establish themselves at the province.
Beirne ultimately left Dublin in the summer of 2016 and made a huge impact for the reigning Guinness PRO rugby champions, while Leavy stayed at the RDS to become a blockbusting back-rower for Leinster and Ireland.
And this weekend the two Leinster academy pals line up on opposing sides in the Aviva Stadium as the Scarlets aim to become the first Welsh team to make a Champions Cup final since Cardiff achieved the feat in 1996.
But memories of the bruising struggles to make their names at Leinster is not far from Leavy’s thoughts as he prepares for a titanic tussle with the west Wales region.
The 23-year-old flanker, who was Ireland’s find of the season in their recent Six Nations Championship Grand Slam, said: “I’ve always held Tadhg in very high regard.
“Me and Tadhg were always in the yellow bibs when we were going through the academy. I always thought he was really good.
“It used to be a straight-out brawl between me and Tadhg and all the senior players. We were trying to prove ourselves and they were trying to keep us down in the academy for as long as possible.
“He was very unlucky with injuries in his time here. You definitely need the bit of luck, too, and it didn’t really fall for him here.
“Ultimately the cream rises to the top – and he’s done fantastically over there. I won’t say I always thought he’d be as good as he is, but he definitely always had a lot of talent.
“He’s definitely someone who puts his body on the line. He’s showed his durability. I’d say Munster are delighted to have him for next season.
“We’re going to have to really target him and not let him make a mess of our ball, as he does every other team.”
Leavy, like Beirne, is not one to shy away from the physical side of the sport and the player, who has offset the injury loss of Lions star Sean O’Brien with Ireland and Leinster, is poised to put his body on the line in what is expected to be a full-blooded European semifinal on Saturday.
“I think the modelling career isn’t going to kick off – so, you know, I’ll take two black eyes to get through this game,” quipped the openside.
“That’s just the way I’ve always been. To some people it might look like it’s a bit dangerous.
“But if you’re second guessing yourself in the back row, especially as a number seven going for the ball, you’re going to hurt yourself.
“You’re either all in or you’re out.”
Despite being the main beneficiary from O’Brien’s ongoing injury woes, Leavy is well aware of the qualities that his experienced teammate brings to the party when available.
“Seanie is such a high-calibre player,” says Leavy.
“We want Sean to play every week. There is always a lot of talk about back-row variations and who will move where, who will play where and whatever. But, you know, I will play wherever as long as the team can perform to its best and we can get through this round.”
Arguably, the return of Robbie Henshaw is of more value to the side, as his midfield partnership with Garry Ringrose will be of more substantial import to Leinster, creatively and defensively, against the Scarlets.
More worrying for Leinster is the potential absence of Luke McGrath who, given that he shares a similar readiness rating to O’Brien – 50-50, according to senior coach Stuart Lancaster – would have knock-on ramifications far beyond the role of scrum-half.
Leinster can only select two from scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and regular European starters, utility forward Scott Fardy and winger James Lowe; hence one of the latter may miss out, while Nick McCarthy, who struggled against Saracens, would be on bench duty.